Vincent Schlothauer
@vince-schlothauer.bsky.social
Designer & design systems nerd | currently based in Germany
I’m a huge hater of disabled component states and will proselytise about it any chance I get. At the same time I’m trying to collect examples of when a disabled element was actually the best tool for the job. I currently have one (1)
May 6, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I’m a huge hater of disabled component states and will proselytise about it any chance I get. At the same time I’m trying to collect examples of when a disabled element was actually the best tool for the job. I currently have one (1)
The thing with genAI is that everything is flawless but also incredibly mid. My mother (bless her heart) sent me a picture of my cat “in the style of Van Gogh” knocking over a vase. Wasn’t even briefly tempted to chuckle. Meanwhile I still laugh every time I think of this post
April 24, 2025 at 8:22 PM
The thing with genAI is that everything is flawless but also incredibly mid. My mother (bless her heart) sent me a picture of my cat “in the style of Van Gogh” knocking over a vase. Wasn’t even briefly tempted to chuckle. Meanwhile I still laugh every time I think of this post
LLMs are trained on nearly unfathomable amounts of human-made data. It really makes you wonder about the motives of many of the people behind it – instead of framing it as accessing a never-ending wealth of human wisdom and ideas it’s “machine” learning and “artificial” intelligence.
April 18, 2025 at 9:40 PM
LLMs are trained on nearly unfathomable amounts of human-made data. It really makes you wonder about the motives of many of the people behind it – instead of framing it as accessing a never-ending wealth of human wisdom and ideas it’s “machine” learning and “artificial” intelligence.
Was just in a meeting where someone said “I guess we can hit this whole thing with the UX/UI bat too” … what does that even mean
April 9, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Was just in a meeting where someone said “I guess we can hit this whole thing with the UX/UI bat too” … what does that even mean
Honestly I breathed a real sigh of relief this morning when I got a message about our company-internal “diversity month”. I didn’t think it was going to be cancelled, but this year I extra appreciate the thought and effort going into it.
April 8, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Honestly I breathed a real sigh of relief this morning when I got a message about our company-internal “diversity month”. I didn’t think it was going to be cancelled, but this year I extra appreciate the thought and effort going into it.
Reposted by Vincent Schlothauer
Reposted by Vincent Schlothauer
Me, to designers, constantly:
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
April 3, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Me, to designers, constantly:
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's good.
I don’t love the squirrel – I had been thinking we’d probably replace it with something that better illustrates the purpose of the app – but it gives people a moment of joy amidst a stressful work day.
Anyway @figma.com please don’t take our pals 🥲
Anyway @figma.com please don’t take our pals 🥲
I create interfaces for B2B/B2E contexts, and you’d be surprised how important these little islands of joy are, especially in the workplace. While doing user research for a redesign, we had multiple people explicitly ask us to please not take their squirrel away.
April 3, 2025 at 1:34 PM
I don’t love the squirrel – I had been thinking we’d probably replace it with something that better illustrates the purpose of the app – but it gives people a moment of joy amidst a stressful work day.
Anyway @figma.com please don’t take our pals 🥲
Anyway @figma.com please don’t take our pals 🥲
I create interfaces for B2B/B2E contexts, and you’d be surprised how important these little islands of joy are, especially in the workplace. While doing user research for a redesign, we had multiple people explicitly ask us to please not take their squirrel away.
April 3, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I create interfaces for B2B/B2E contexts, and you’d be surprised how important these little islands of joy are, especially in the workplace. While doing user research for a redesign, we had multiple people explicitly ask us to please not take their squirrel away.
We’ll all have the opportunity to observe something interesting when Figma inevitably removes their April Fools FigPals – what happens when you *take away* moments of delight?
April 3, 2025 at 1:29 PM
We’ll all have the opportunity to observe something interesting when Figma inevitably removes their April Fools FigPals – what happens when you *take away* moments of delight?
My head is so full now, but so is my heart. What a great event! 🙌
Full house at Into Design Systems Düsseldorf! 🇩🇪
What an amazing community!
I made 100 new design system friends.
Learned about accessibility from some cool Design Systems made in Germany 🇩🇪 + new Figma features
5/5 ⭐️
What an amazing community!
I made 100 new design system friends.
Learned about accessibility from some cool Design Systems made in Germany 🇩🇪 + new Figma features
5/5 ⭐️
April 2, 2025 at 10:32 PM
My head is so full now, but so is my heart. What a great event! 🙌
Spoke at a Friends of Figma event today and had an absolute blast. Community is so important, it’s easy to forget that.
April 1, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Spoke at a Friends of Figma event today and had an absolute blast. Community is so important, it’s easy to forget that.
Just watched a snippet from a BBC programme about the early internet from 1994. Wish that thing was still worthy of the name “information superhighway”
March 29, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Just watched a snippet from a BBC programme about the early internet from 1994. Wish that thing was still worthy of the name “information superhighway”
Very cool, I’m hoping it’ll eventually offer APCA values as well!
Woohoo, a big win for accessible design! @figma.com now includes a *built-in* color contrast checker, making it easier to design for everyone. 🎨
March 28, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Very cool, I’m hoping it’ll eventually offer APCA values as well!
Ages ago when our design system team was ready to commit murder-suicide over the difference between chips, tags and badges there was a video about someone flipping on their devs for wasting their entire budget on buttons. I’ve never been able to find it again
March 28, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Ages ago when our design system team was ready to commit murder-suicide over the difference between chips, tags and badges there was a video about someone flipping on their devs for wasting their entire budget on buttons. I’ve never been able to find it again
I’m not even arguing that LLMs can have their uses. But why is it that people say “I asked ChatGPT” with the same kind of childlike conviction of a 5-year-old explaining that Santa has to be real because “that’s what dad said”?
March 22, 2025 at 8:26 PM
I’m not even arguing that LLMs can have their uses. But why is it that people say “I asked ChatGPT” with the same kind of childlike conviction of a 5-year-old explaining that Santa has to be real because “that’s what dad said”?
That’s such a cool resource! I work with a lot of teams that don’t have access to their own designers let alone researchers but are still trying to get a handle on user requirements. This seems like it could really help them.
Shameless plug, I created userexperience.directory, which has a research method selection wizard to help juniors I work with branch out of their standard usability tests. I launched it recently, so still needs love, but I'm working on anonymizing templates and real protocols to add as samples.
UX Research Methods Directory | UX Directory
Find the right UX research method for your project based on your goals, budget, and timeline.
userexperience.directory
March 21, 2025 at 5:54 PM
That’s such a cool resource! I work with a lot of teams that don’t have access to their own designers let alone researchers but are still trying to get a handle on user requirements. This seems like it could really help them.
Duolingo renaming “User Experience” to “Product Experience” accurately reflects the changes the app has gone through in the nearly 1500 days I’ve maintained my streak. Couldn’t help but notice that the announcement never wrote out what “UX” stands for, because “We’re over User Experience” sounds bad
March 21, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Duolingo renaming “User Experience” to “Product Experience” accurately reflects the changes the app has gone through in the nearly 1500 days I’ve maintained my streak. Couldn’t help but notice that the announcement never wrote out what “UX” stands for, because “We’re over User Experience” sounds bad
Had a discussion about web accessibility with someone who came into it already angry because of the cost for small businesses (also “the free market will take care of it”), and when I told them I wasn’t interested in an argument with someone who was already angry had the gall to call *me* dogmatic.
March 20, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Had a discussion about web accessibility with someone who came into it already angry because of the cost for small businesses (also “the free market will take care of it”), and when I told them I wasn’t interested in an argument with someone who was already angry had the gall to call *me* dogmatic.
A good read! Pretty bleak, but pretty honest too.
www.late-review.com/p/the-eterna...
www.late-review.com/p/the-eterna...
the eternal present
or: we need to destroy phone
www.late-review.com
March 20, 2025 at 3:37 PM
A good read! Pretty bleak, but pretty honest too.
www.late-review.com/p/the-eterna...
www.late-review.com/p/the-eterna...
Reposted by Vincent Schlothauer
UX design is in disarray. The idea of design-for-use has been replaced with design-for-sales, and its incentives (make more features so that you have more shit to sell) don't align with user-centered work.
In this issue, I investigate the ground-level view of how this happened and how to stop it.
In this issue, I investigate the ground-level view of how this happened and how to stop it.
Why design goes wrong and how to set it right, part 1
At the root of design's crisis is an incentives crisis throughout tech. But we have tools that let us cut through the magical thinking of feature factories - if we're willing to use them.
productpicnic.beehiiv.com
March 16, 2025 at 2:49 PM
UX design is in disarray. The idea of design-for-use has been replaced with design-for-sales, and its incentives (make more features so that you have more shit to sell) don't align with user-centered work.
In this issue, I investigate the ground-level view of how this happened and how to stop it.
In this issue, I investigate the ground-level view of how this happened and how to stop it.
All interfaces with well-intentioned designers behind them fall somewhere within this diagram. The further away from the centre, the worse. Duolingo for instance is sitting squat in aesthetic/delightful territory and moving farther from functional every day.
March 14, 2025 at 8:57 PM
All interfaces with well-intentioned designers behind them fall somewhere within this diagram. The further away from the centre, the worse. Duolingo for instance is sitting squat in aesthetic/delightful territory and moving farther from functional every day.
So many genuinely useful terms turn into tooth-grinding annoyances when overused. I don’t have a “mental model” of this JIRA board, I’m going to bite you
March 13, 2025 at 7:20 PM
So many genuinely useful terms turn into tooth-grinding annoyances when overused. I don’t have a “mental model” of this JIRA board, I’m going to bite you
Reposted by Vincent Schlothauer
"The European Accessibility Act requires things to work for disabled people. It does not require things to conform to a specific accessibility standard. So we should use the standards, such as WCAG, to guide our work. But we must make sure what we design and build actually works for disabled folks."
Usability testing with disabled users is a good investment
Relying on WCAG isn't enough to ensure accessibility. Conducting usability testing with disabled users is the only way. And is required by regulations such as the European Accessibility Act.
nicolas-steenhout.com
March 11, 2025 at 3:00 PM
"The European Accessibility Act requires things to work for disabled people. It does not require things to conform to a specific accessibility standard. So we should use the standards, such as WCAG, to guide our work. But we must make sure what we design and build actually works for disabled folks."
Irretrievably closed my perfectly arranged browser tabs. Send thoughts and prayers in these trying times
March 10, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Irretrievably closed my perfectly arranged browser tabs. Send thoughts and prayers in these trying times